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DAY 98

Ever wonder what started Disney's direct-to-video trainride? Look no further than here. Today we have the first 2 sequels that are both from the same franchise: Aladdin & the Return of Jafar and Aladdin & the King of Thieves. Most people have noticed that at this point, the Aladdin sequels have the same ups-and-downs like the original Indiana Jones trilogy (first films obviously the best)
The Return of Jafar is equal to Temple of Doom. They both have good intentions, but it feels clunky with the look, strays far from what made the first film so great, there's only one aspect that's worth seeing instead of the full flick, a poor Dan isn't used to his full-potential, a horrific gruesome death involving lava and instead of focusing mainly on the main character, we're stuck with a forced annoying-voiced comedic sidekick. This was originally made as just a 3-part pilot for the upcoming TV series, but Eisner decided it's worthy of a film release. It really shows. Instead of the story focusing on Aladdin, it's Iago's story about his redemption and that's the biggest problem with this film. Aladdin and Jasmine's story (if any at all) isn't that important like they needed to be there... just because. The animation gets pretty inconsistent, because apparently it was done by 2 animation companies. Some parts were Japan and others were Australia; it's easy to tell the difference. The songs aren't that memorable/have poorly written lyrics, the characters don't have that much to offer (because again, it's about Iago) It is nice to hear most of the original cast back, only with Dr. Dawson from Great Mouse Detective as the Sultan and Springfield's Radiation Plant Safety Inspector, Homer, as the Genie. (I'll talk more about Dan's portrayal of Genie when we get to the TV series. For now, I gotta ask: why does Genie still have his wrist cuffs if he's been freed?) The only new character is Abis Mal and again, further thoughts on the TV series. (On that note, anyone find it strange how this film unintentionally foreshadowed Disney's next theatrical films) The only thing that's consistently great is Jafar himself. He's still the same sly sorcerer he was in the first film, but now we get to see his full dark magical powers as a genie (since we only saw one minute of it in the first film). He has a much more threatening appearance now, he finally gets a villain song (which seems to combine both his deleted villain songs into one) and he's killed off in one of the most gruesome Disney villain deaths yet. As a whole, you shouldn't be seeing this as a film, but, like it was originally intended, as a TV pilot.
However, Aladdin & the King of Thieves, released 2 years later, was the first must-watch sequel produced. It serves as a great finale, both to the TV series and the Aladdin franchise as a whole (Kingdom Hearts and others not included). This is the Last Crusade for obvious reasons: it's the third film, they has the exact same plot (the main character going for an adventure with his father), they both feel much closer to the first film than the second one ever could, characters feel more like their old selves, they even have one of the Indy actors! (they first wanted Sean Connery to play Aladdin's father, he played INDY'S father, but they switched it to be Indy's pal, John-Rhys Davies) The adventure is much more engaging with Aladdin and Cassim's relationship, Aladdin and Jasmine have some development with their wedding preparation, the jokes get a lot of good laughs (even though, some seem too Disney-centered), it can get dark with it's deaths (think of when Sa'Luk got turned to gold ALIVE) and you have to admire the different ending. Cassim can't be turned to a fully good-guy and still remains a thief. They go their separate ways, but they still care for each other as family. The animation is still TV-grade, but it looks much better than the second film. The old characters are back to normal and the new ones are just as great. John Rhys-Davies has the great authoritah being the king of the 40 thieves, the thieves theirselves might not individual character-traits but they have the unsettling feel, Jerry Orbach is a great menacing badass as Sa'Luk (it's so strange not to hear him with a French accent), CCH Pounder is very mysterious as the oracle and, this doesn't count but it's worth bringing up, Robin's back! Once Robin found out Katzenberg left Disney at this point, Disney dumped the original Dan recordings and Robin rerecorded it. (I'm interested to see the Dan-Genie version, though) The songs are a lot more memorable as well. Not Howard and Alan standards, but they're still pretty fun. And like I said, it's a great ending to both the TV series and franchise as a whole. It even ends with the Peddler singing Arabian Nights (meaning he was telling the entire Aladdin saga when he started the first film) It's a real fun adventure to watch.

DAY 100

Comment & enjoy!

Description
DAY 98

Ever wonder what started Disney's direct-to-video trainride? Look no further than here. Today we have the first 2 sequels that are both from the same franchise: Aladdin & the Return of Jafar and Aladdin & the King of Thieves. Most people have noticed that at this point, the Aladdin sequels have the same ups-and-downs like the original Indiana Jones trilogy (first films obviously the best)
The Return of Jafar is equal to Temple of Doom. They both have good intentions, but it feels clunky with the look, strays far from what made the first film so great, there's only one aspect that's worth seeing instead of the full flick, a poor Dan isn't used to his full-potential, a horrific gruesome death involving lava and instead of focusing mainly on the main character, we're stuck with a forced annoying-voiced comedic sidekick. This was originally made as just a 3-part pilot for the upcoming TV series, but Eisner decided it's worthy of a film release. It really shows. Instead of the story focusing on Aladdin, it's Iago's story about his redemption and that's the biggest problem with this film. Aladdin and Jasmine's story (if any at all) isn't that important like they needed to be there... just because. The animation gets pretty inconsistent, because apparently it was done by 2 animation companies. Some parts were Japan and others were Australia; it's easy to tell the difference. The songs aren't that memorable/have poorly written lyrics, the characters don't have that much to offer (because again, it's about Iago) It is nice to hear most of the original cast back, only with Dr. Dawson from Great Mouse Detective as the Sultan and Springfield's Radiation Plant Safety Inspector, Homer, as the Genie. (I'll talk more about Dan's portrayal of Genie when we get to the TV series. For now, I gotta ask: why does Genie still have his wrist cuffs if he's been freed?) The only new character is Abis Mal and again, further thoughts on the TV series. (On that note, anyone find it strange how this film unintentionally foreshadowed Disney's next theatrical films) The only thing that's consistently great is Jafar himself. He's still the same sly sorcerer he was in the first film, but now we get to see his full dark magical powers as a genie (since we only saw one minute of it in the first film). He has a much more threatening appearance now, he finally gets a villain song (which seems to combine both his deleted villain songs into one) and he's killed off in one of the most gruesome Disney villain deaths yet. As a whole, you shouldn't be seeing this as a film, but, like it was originally intended, as a TV pilot.
However, Aladdin & the King of Thieves, released 2 years later, was the first must-watch sequel produced. It serves as a great finale, both to the TV series and the Aladdin franchise as a whole (Kingdom Hearts and others not included). This is the Last Crusade for obvious reasons: it's the third film, they has the exact same plot (the main character going for an adventure with his father), they both feel much closer to the first film than the second one ever could, characters feel more like their old selves, they even have one of the Indy actors! (they first wanted Sean Connery to play Aladdin's father, he played INDY'S father, but they switched it to be Indy's pal, John-Rhys Davies) The adventure is much more engaging with Aladdin and Cassim's relationship, Aladdin and Jasmine have some development with their wedding preparation, the jokes get a lot of good laughs (even though, some seem too Disney-centered), it can get dark with it's deaths (think of when Sa'Luk got turned to gold ALIVE) and you have to admire the different ending. Cassim can't be turned to a fully good-guy and still remains a thief. They go their separate ways, but they still care for each other as family. The animation is still TV-grade, but it looks much better than the second film. The old characters are back to normal and the new ones are just as great. John Rhys-Davies has the great authoritah being the king of the 40 thieves, the thieves theirselves might not individual character-traits but they have the unsettling feel, Jerry Orbach is a great menacing badass as Sa'Luk (it's so strange not to hear him with a French accent), CCH Pounder is very mysterious as the oracle and, this doesn't count but it's worth bringing up, Robin's back! Once Robin found out Katzenberg left Disney at this point, Disney dumped the original Dan recordings and Robin rerecorded it. (I'm interested to see the Dan-Genie version, though) The songs are a lot more memorable as well. Not Howard and Alan standards, but they're still pretty fun. And like I said, it's a great ending to both the TV series and franchise as a whole. It even ends with the Peddler singing Arabian Nights (meaning he was telling the entire Aladdin saga when he started the first film) It's a real fun adventure to watch.

DAY 100

Comment & enjoy!